Slow down: The Wisconsin redistricting process is working as intended

On Sunday, the Journal Sentinel editorial board argued in favor of adopting a new redistricting process in Wisconsin – one that takes the reapportionment process out of the hands of partisans and gives it to an “independent” group that would redraw legislative district lines. Naturally, I see the issue completely differently.

It seems a bit early to jump on the new State Senate and Assembly maps, given that this is only the second time in over 60 years the redistricting process actually worked the way the state’s founders intended. Since Wisconsin’s inception, the power to reapportion has been vested with the legislature – and party control of that legislature has swung wildly back and forth for 164 years. Just because Republicans control the Senate, Assembly, and governorship and got to draw their own districts doesn’t means we’re suddenly in the midst of a constitutional crisis. The redrawing of districts has never locked in single party control for long.

In fact, since 1950, the de facto system has been essentially what the editorial board is promoting. In each case, control of state government has been split (for a full list, go here), so the courts have ended up re-writing the legislative districts to varying degrees. In 1950, the court even adopted the recommendations of the “Rosenberry Committee,” which included citizens members along with a handful of legislators.

But after 60 years of court map re-writing, the legislature went entirely to the GOP – not, of course, because of redistricting (the new maps were not in effect), but because 2010 was a wave election year for Republicans. And the public decided that they wanted the GOP writing the new districts, which is an important part of what legislators do. It’s not as if this was a secret to voters. In fact, if it were two years earlier, Democrats would have been able to write the districts in any way they wanted, as they had full control of state government.

So now, once we have districts as they were always meant to be – written by the legislature and untouched by the courts – people are urging that we throw the whole system out. In actuality, it might be easier to throw out the voters that so forcefully elected Republicans in 2010 (and re-elected them in 2012.)

The worry for Democrats, of course, is that the new districts will lock in Republican majorities for decades to come. But in the history of Wisconsin, this has never been the case.

Take the 1980 reapportionment, for instance. In 1982, the Democratic legislature and Republican Governor Lee Sherman Dreyfus were at a standstill, so a 3-judge panel re-drew the districts to govern the 1982 elections. Yet that year Democrat Tony Earl was elected, meaning Democrats had full control of state government. So in 1983, they wrote their own redistricting plan that superseded the boundaries drawn by the court. And it took nearly 12 years for Republicans to gain control of either house of the Legislature, but it did eventually happen.

In fact, districts are always moving in and out of “swing” status. While borders rarely move, voters move frequently. Different issues come up and move people in different ways. Charismatic politicians sway people to vote in ways different than they have before. Nothing is set in stone in politics.

In fact, a quick glimpse of the current State Senate map shows that the GOP is far from bulletproof in future elections. Currently, the GOP has a 3-vote majority, which is expected to grow to 4 votes in 2014 when Democratic Senator John Lehman loses his heavily Republican seat in the Racine suburbs.

But the 18th District near Fond du Lac was recently held by Democrat Jessica King until she lost by a couple hundred votes this November. The 23rd District in Chippewa Falls, currently held by Republican Terry Moulton, has always been a swing district, and the 17th District, currently held by moderate Dale Schultz, could go Democratic (the district had three Democratic assembly members as recently as 2008.) A version of the 29th District was held by Democrat Russ Decker for two decades; it was won under the old district boundaries by popular Republican Assemblyperson Jerry Petrowski. Redistricting had nothing to do with the Democrats losing that seat.

So in elections favoring a particular party, anything can happen – and frequently does. So it makes sense that imposing another state’s framework on Wisconsin is premature. Iowa, for instance, has very few ethnic minorities, so their redistricting process is far less of a high-wire act. California is a fiscal basket case on the brink of bankruptcy – any public policy they implement should be viewed with extreme skepticism.

Wisconsin’s system of legislative redistricting is older than anyone on the planet, and will continue on long after we’re all gone. Just because Republicans got to write the new maps doesn't mean the system didn't work - it actually worked perfectly. For the next 164 years, the state will be just fine, as it has been for the first 164.

Editor's Note: Purple Wisconsin is a collection of community bloggers with views from across the political spectrum. The Journal Sentinel hosts these blogs as a way to encourage thoughtful debate about the important issues facing Wisconsin and the Milwaukee region. The opinions voiced here are those of the individual bloggers alone; they are responsible for their posts. The Journal Sentinel does not edit or direct the bloggers in any fashion.

Christian Schneider is a freelance writer based in Madison and a regular contributor to National Review Online. He holds a master's degree from Marquette University in political science. His op-eds have been featured in The New York Times, New York Post, City Journal Magazine and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.